Sweden unveils ‘Bioenergy Day’

Sweden has launched a ‘Bioenergy Day’ to promote how bioenergy is benefitting the country.

The day was unveiled on 21 August. It is specifically aimed at educating the national media on the benefits of bioenergy.

The Swedish bioenergy day is part of a broader pan-European campaign coordinated from Brussels by Aebiom that will be replicated in most EU-28 member states until the end of the year.

Bioenergy has been the leading energy source in Sweden since 2009, and its share increases year by year. The total use of renewable energy will be around 55% in Sweden in 2017, compared to 18% in EU as a whole. Other EU member states with high shares of bioenergy are Finland (33%), Latvia (31%), Estonia (27%), Denmark (25%), Lithuania (22%), and Austria and Romania (both 20%).

“There is a large potential to further increase the use of bioenergy in EU, and thereby replace fossil fuels and reduce climate gas emissions,” says Gustav Melin, CEO in Svebio (The Swedish Bioenergy Association) and former president of Aebiom.

‘Overlooked’

According to Svebio, bioenergy is the leading renewable energy source in the EU, but is often overlooked in the public debate one energy.

According to Eurostat data and calculations by the European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), bioenergy will account for 11% of the final energy consumption in the EU-28 this year. Other renewable energy sources, like hydropower, wind, solar and geothermal, stand for another 7%. But still, non-renewable energy makes up 82% of the EU’s energy use.

For the EU as a whole, this means that all energy use from 21 November until the end of the year will come from bioenergy, and therefore Aebiom will celebrate the European Bioenergy Day on 21 November.

Sweden is showing the way by using bioenergy in all sectors of society, in heating, power production, industry and for transport. 20% of all transport fuels are already biofuels in Sweden. A major reason behind the Swedish success story on bioenergy is the Swedish carbon taxation and broad political support, according to Svebio.

In a statement, Svebio said: “With strong general incentives, the market actors have implemented smart and cost-efficient technologies to use biomass for energy. Despite the large use of bioenergy from forests, the standing volume of the Swedish forests has almost doubled in the last century.”

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